Inter-Network Communication Session Handoff

ABSTRACT

A communication session between a first communication device and a second communication device is hosted in an Internet Protocol (IP) based packet data network. A contact server functions as a bridge service between the first communication device and the second communication device. A communication link between the first communication device and the contact server or the second communication device and the contact server is initially a voice-over IP (VoIP) communication link over a wireless data network. The contact server analyzes a call quality characteristic of the VoIP communication link and causes the communication device having the VoIP communication link to handoff the VoIP communication link from the wireless data network to a cellular communication link on a cellular network when the analyzed call quality characteristic of the VoIP communication link crosses a threshold level. Other embodiments describe handing off from a cellular communication link to VoIP communication link.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to U.S. patent application Ser. No.13/693,629 entitled “Intelligent Handoffs for Enhancing or AvoidingDropped and Interrupted Communication Sessions”, which was filed on Dec.4, 2012 which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.61/577,579 entitled “Intelligent Handoff Between Networks”, which wasfiled on Dec. 19, 2011, both of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

Communication devices, such as smart phones, tablet computers, etc., maybe equipped with cellular transceivers to enable communication via acellular network. Additionally or alternatively, such communicationdevices may be equipped with other hardware and/or software componentsfor enabling communication via other types of networks, including datanetworks such as, for example, the Internet, an intranet, a wide areanetwork, a local area network, etc. Communication devices capable ofcommunicating via multiple types of networks may be provided withfunctionality for handing-off a communication session from one networkto another network, including a network of a different type, in order toavoid dropping the communication session. What is needed, however, isfunctionality for more intelligently managing such handoffs andotherwise enhancing communication sessions or avoiding dropped orinterrupted communication sessions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Many aspects of the present disclosure can be better understood withreference to the following drawings. The components in the drawings arenot necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in thedrawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding partsthroughout the several views.

FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary networked environment for implementingcertain exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating exemplary interactions between acontact server, a caller device and a recipient device according tocertain exemplary embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method for performingintelligent handoffs and/or multi-streaming in order to enhancecommunication sessions and/or avoid dropped or interrupted communicationsessions according to certain exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIG. 4 is flowchart illustrating an example of how multiple mediastreams may be processed in order to form a single media stream for acommunication session according to certain exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention provides systems and methods for intelligentlyenhancing communication sessions or avoiding dropped or interruptedcommunication sessions between or among communication devices. Forexample, a dropped or interrupted communication session may be avoidedby handing-off the communication session from one network to another. Asanother example, multiple media streams from one communication device toanother communication device may be aggregated, switched, mixed orotherwise combined in order to enhance the overall quality of acommunication session and/or avoid the communication session beingdropped or interrupted. The systems and methods of the invention may beembodied in and performed by communication devices, contact servers andother devices, and software instructions executed by some or all of suchdevices, as will be explained in detail below. The different types ofnetworks contemplated herein include, for example, cellular networks,the public switched telephone network (PSTN), and data networks, such asthe Internet or other IP-based networks, including wide area networks,local area networks, etc.

As used herein the term “communications session” is meant to generallyindicate any one-way or two-way exchange of information between twocommunication devices. Communication sessions may include voicecommunication sessions, multimedia communication sessions, or any othertype of data communication sessions or messaging exchanges. As usedherein, the term “communication link” is intended to mean a physical orlogical channel that connects two or more devices. A communication linkmay be a signaling link or a media link. In this context, acommunication session may be established via one or more communicationlinks. One or more media streams may be transmitted over a communicationlink.

Given the convergence of and interoperation among different types ofnetwork technologies, which blurs the line between various distinctnetworks, this disclosure focuses on access networks. An access networkis the portion of a communications network that connects subscriberdevices to a service provider's core network. Therefore, referencesherein to a communication device capable of connecting to orcommunicating via a cellular network refers to a communication deviceequipped with a cellular transceiver for communication with basestations and other cellular network access points. Similarly, referencesherein to a communication device capable of connecting to orcommunicating via a data network refers to a communication deviceequipped with a transceiver or other network interface for communicationwith a router or other data network access point.

In accordance with certain embodiments, a communication devicecommunicating with a first network may execute a “handoff application,”which causes the communication device to identify and connect to anothernetwork and to cause the communication session to be handed-off from thefirst network to the second with minimal or no service interruption. Thehandoff application may rely on intelligent communication session datain order to make intelligent determinations about whether and when ahandoff is to occur. “Intelligent communication session data” isintended herein to mean any data relating to a communication session orits constituent communication link(s), such as detected signalstrengths, available networks, protocol and buffer statistics andanalysis, environmental and/or geographical factors, the performance ofaccess points and other network components, past interactions between oramong communication devices, access points and other network components,context of conversations during voice calls, and other data pointsdescribed herein. The handoff application or other functionalityexecuted by the communication device may create, record and/or monitorintelligent communication session data. The handoff applicationadditionally or alternatively may receive intelligent communicationsession data from other communication devices and/or other networkdevices. In some embodiments, the handoff application additionally oralternatively receives intelligent communication session data and/orhandoff instructions from a “handoff service,” which may be executed ona contact server or, in some embodiments, may be executed by thecommunication device or any other network device(s).

A communication device may execute a “multi-stream application,” whichmay configure or control the device to concurrently communicate with twoor more networks, thereby transmitting and/or receiving multiple mediastreams of the same or related content. The multiple media streams maybe aggregated, switched, mixed or otherwise combined to enhance theoverall quality of a communication session. The multi-stream applicationmay rely on intelligent communication session data in order to makeintelligent determinations about whether and when multi-streaming is tooccur. The multi-stream application or other functionality executed bythe communication device may create, record and/or monitor intelligentcommunication session data. The multi-stream application additionally oralternatively may receive intelligent communication session data fromother communication devices and/or other network devices. In someembodiments, the multi-stream application additionally or alternativelyreceives intelligent communication session data and/or multi-streaminginstructions from a “multi-stream service,” which may be executed on acontact server or, in some embodiments, may be executed by thecommunication device or any other network device(s).

A contact server may be employed to manage communication sessionsbetween or among multiple communication devices. For example, in someembodiments, when a first communication device (e.g., a caller device)is operated to establish a communication session with a secondcommunication device (e.g., a recipient device), a first communicationlink may be established between the caller device and the contact severand a second communication link may be established between the contactserver and the recipient device. Various methods for establishing acommunication link between the contact server and a communication deviceare known in the art and will of course depend on the type of accessnetwork used by the communication device. With the first and secondcommunication links established, the contact server may then bridge thetwo communication links to establish the communication session betweenthe communication devices. In other embodiments, the contact server maynot physically bridge or relay media streams between communicationdevices, but may provide means of contact and/or facilitate signaling toset-up, manage and tear-down communication sessions between or amongcommunication devices.

The contact server may execute a “handoff service” and/or a“multi-stream service,” each of which may generate intelligentcommunication session data based on characteristics of or factorsrelating to the communication session and/or prior communicationsessions between the caller device and the recipient device, as well ascommunications sessions between and among other communications devices.Each service may also collect and/or receive intelligent communicationsession data from one or more of the caller device, the recipientdevice, other communication devices and other network devices. In someembodiments, the handoff service and/or the multi-stream service may beconfigured to transmit intelligent communication session data to thecaller device and/or the recipient device for use by the respectivedevice's handoff application and/or the multi-stream application indetermining whether and when a communication session should behanded-off from one network to another and/or whether multi-streamingshould be performed. In other embodiments, the handoff service and/orthe multi-stream service may analyze the intelligent communicationsession data to determine when a handoff and/or multi-streaming isappropriate and may instruct one or more of the communication devices toperform a handoff or to initiate or terminate multi-streaming. Asmentioned, the handoff service and/or the multi-stream service do notnecessarily need to be executed by the contact server; in someembodiments one or both services may be executed on one or more othernetwork devices (e.g., in the cloud) or may be executed locally on oneor more communication devices.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary networked environment 100 for implementingcertain exemplary embodiments of the present invention. The networkedenvironment 100 may include at least one contact server 103, a pluralityof communication devices 106 and 109, and a plurality of networks 111,112, and 113. One or more of the networks 111, 112 and 113 can be usedto interconnect the contact server 103 and the communication devices 106and 109. The exemplary networks 111, 112, and 113 include one or morecellular networks 111 a and 111 b, one or more data networks 112 a and112 b, and one or more portions of the public switched telephone network(PSTN) 113 a and 113 b.

In certain embodiments, cellular networks 111 a and 111 b includecellular networks or portions of cellular networks based on GSM, LTE,CDMA, and/or any other cellular network standards. Data networks 112 aand 112 b include, for example, the Internet, one or more intranets,wide area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), and the like,portions or all of which may be wireless and/or wired. For instance, adata network 112 may be a wireless network or a portion of a wirelessnetwork implemented using an IEEE 802.11 standard, WiMAX, and/or anyother wireless data communication standard. As is known in the art, theresources the various networks 111, 112, and 113 may interface with thecontact server 103 through gateway devices, routers and/or otherappropriate devices (not shown). Similarly, the communication devices106 and 109 may interface with the various networks 111, 112, and 113through appropriate access points (not shown).

As is known in the art, a cellular network 111 provides connectivity forany communication devices capable of cellular transmission that arephysically located within range of the cellular network 111. The rangeof a cellular network depends in part on an amplification, power, and/orenergy associated with the antennas comprising cellular base station,communications devices and the like. As the communication device 106and/or 109 moves toward the outer range of the cellular network 111, thestrength of the cellular signals will become degraded. Similarly, awireless data network 112 provides wireless connectivity tocommunication devices within range of a wireless access point. Forinstance, a wireless access point may provide connectivity using Wi-Fistandards, WiMAX standards, and/or any other type of connectivitystandard. As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, acommunication device 106 and/or 109 may experience a stronger connectionsignal when located closer to a wireless access point than when locatedfurther away from the wireless access point. Thus, the strength of thewireless data connection may fade as the communication device 106 and/or109 moves away from a wireless access point.

The contact server 103 may comprise, for example, a server computer orany other system having computing capability. The schematic blockdiagram shows that the contact server 103 may include at least oneprocessor 150, at least one communication interface 155 (e.g., a networkinterface card or the like), and a memory 160, each of which is coupledto a local interface 170. The local interface 170 may comprise, forexample, a data bus with an accompanying address/control bus or otherbus structure as can be appreciated. Stored in the memory 160 are bothdata and several components (e.g., software applications) that areexecutable by the processor 150 and which provide the functionality ofthe contact server 103.

Alternatively, a plurality of contact servers 103 may be employed andmay be arranged, for example, in one or more server banks or computerbanks or other arrangements. For example, a plurality of contact servers103 together may comprise a cloud computing resource, a grid computingresource, and/or any other aggregated or distributed computingarrangement. Such contact servers 103 may be located in a singleinstallation or may be distributed among different geographicallocations. For purposes of convenience, the contact server 103 isillustrated in FIG. 1 and referred to herein in the singular. Eventhough the contact server 103 is referred to in the singular, it isunderstood that a plurality of contact servers 103 may be employed invarious arrangements as described above.

The contact server 103 may execute various applications and/or otherfunctionality for, among other things, setting-up, managing andtearing-down communication sessions between communication devices 106and 109. Also, various data is stored in a data store 114 that is storedin the memory 160 of the contact server 103 or is otherwise accessibleto the contact server 103. The data store 114 illustrated in FIG. 1 maybe representative of a plurality of data stores, as can be appreciated.The data stored in the data store 114, for example, may be associatedwith the operation of the various applications and/or functionalentities of the contact server 103 as described below.

The applications and/or functional entities of the contact server 103may include, for example, a handoff service 115, a bridge service 116, amulti-stream service 117 and other applications, services, processes,systems, engines, or functionality, including an operating system, notdiscussed in detail herein. The handoff service 115 may be executed togenerate, collect and/or analyze intelligent communication session data133 and to transmit intelligent communication session data 133 and/orhandoff instructions to one or more communication device(s) 106 and 109.The handoff service 115 may generate intelligent communication sessiondata 133 by monitoring and/or analyzing various aspects and qualities ofcommunication sessions, either itself or in conjunction with the bridgeservice 116 or other functionality of the contact server 103. Thehandoff service 115 may receive intelligent communication session data133 from communication devices 106, 109 or other network components. Thehandoff service 115 may also store the intelligent communication sessiondata 133 in and retrieve it from the data store 114.

The intelligent communication session data 133 may be used by thecommunication devices 106 and 109 to determine whether and when acommunication session (e.g., voice call, multimedia call, messageexchange, etc.) will or should be handed-off between a plurality ofnetworks 111, 112, and 113. In other embodiments, the handoff service115 may process intelligent communication session data 133 to determinewhen and whether a communication session should be handed-off between aplurality of networks 111, 112, and 113 and to issue handoff commands toone or more of the communication devices 106 and 109 to triggerhandoffs. Handoffs may be made between networks of the same type (e.g.,a first data network to a second data network or a first cellularnetwork to a second cellular network, etc.) or between networks ofdifferent types (e.g., a data network to a cellular network or viceversa, etc.).

The bridge service 116 may be executed to establish and managecommunication sessions between or among communication devices such as,for example, a caller device 106 and a recipient device 109. The bridgeservice 116 may be invoked by the contact server 103 in response toreceiving a request, e.g., from a caller device 106, to establish acommunication session, e.g., with a recipient device. The bridge service116 may be responsible for initiating bridges 119 to join togethercommunication links between two or more communication devices 106, 109and the contact server 103. In this manner, the bridge 119 serves as amedia relay between the caller device 106 and the recipient device 109and/or other communication devices.

The bridge service 116 may monitor the communication session or thebridge 119 to determine whether any of the communication devices 106,109 become disconnected. By uniquely identifying a communication sessionor bridge 119 in association with the caller device 106 and therecipient device 109 (e.g., using a caller device ID 120 and a recipientdevice ID 121), the bridge service 116 may be able to reconnect thecaller device 106 and/or the recipient device 109 to the call if either(or both) of the devices loses its connection and attempts to re-connectvia the same or a different network. In some embodiments, the contactserver 103 may send a notification to a communication device thatdropped the call to notify it that the bridge 119 remains active or thatthe other communication device is otherwise still attempting toparticipate in the call. In some embodiments, the call can beautomatically reestablished by the contact server 103 upon reaching thecommunication device that had lost its connection, while in otherembodiments the user of the communication device may be prompted toinput a command to indicate whether the call should or should not bereestablished.

In other embodiments, the contact server 103 may establish and managecommunication sessions and may relay media streams between or amongcommunication devices 106, 109 without using the bridge service 116 orbridges 119. In still other embodiments, the contact server may notphysically bridge or otherwise relay media streams between or amongcommunication devices 106, 109, but may provide means of contact and/orfacilitate signaling between the communication devices 106, 109 and/orother relevant network components in order to set-up and managecommunication sessions.

The multi-stream service 117 may be executed to determine when multiplemedia streams should be concurrently transmitted by a communicationdevice 106, 109 that is involved in or trying to establish acommunication session and/or to manage multiple concurrent media streamsassociated with a single communication session. The multi-stream service117 may generate, collect and/or analyze intelligent communicationsession data 133 and transmit intelligent communication session data 133and/or multi-stream instructions to one or more communication device(s)106 and 109. The multi-stream service 117 may generate intelligentcommunication session data 133 by monitoring various aspects andqualities of communication sessions either itself or in conjunction withthe bridge service 116 or other functionality of the contact server 103.The multi-stream service may receive intelligent communication sessiondata 133 from communication devices 106, 109 and/or other networkcomponents. The multi-stream service 117 may also store intelligentcommunication session data 133 in and retrieve it from the data store114.

The intelligent communication session data 133 may be used by thecommunication devices 106 and 109 to determine whether and when multiplemedia streams should be used in connection with a single communicationsession. In other embodiments, the multi-stream service 117 may processintelligent communication session data 133 to determine whenmulti-streaming should be invoked and to issue multi-streaming commandsto one or more of the communication devices 106 and 109. Multi-streamingmay involve transmitting/receiving multiple media streams over networksof the same type (e.g., a first data network and a second data networkor a first cellular network and a second cellular network, etc.) or overnetworks of different types (e.g., a data network and a cellularnetwork, etc.).

Multiple media streams may be aggregated, switched, mixed or otherwisecombined to enhance communication quality that would otherwise beavailable using a single media stream. For example, portions of onemedia stream may be supplemented with portions of one or more othermedia stream(s) so as to form a more complete media stream. In otherwords, one media stream can be monitored to determine and identify anymissing or degraded portions (i.e., data packets) and the correspondingportions of one or more other media streams, if available, can be usedin replacement of the missing or degraded portions. In someapplications, multi-streaming may be used where a communication device106, 109 may not be able to establish a strong connection to any onenetwork, but may be able to establish relatively weak(er) connections totwo or more networks. For example, combining the two weak(er) mediastreams may form a higher quality media stream, enabling use of higherdefinition codec. In other applications, multi-streaming may be used asan “insurance policy”; in case one network connection is lost orsignificantly degrades, another network connection may be utilizedinstead without out the need for a handoff.

In some embodiments, multiple media streams are transmitted by one ormore communications devices 106, 109 to the contact server 103, whichexecutes the multi-stream service 117 to manage (e.g., monitor, combine)the multiple media streams. In some implementations, the contact server103 may open multiple ports or reserve multiple IP addresses, etc. eachfor receiving one of the multiple incoming media streams. In otherimplementations, the contact server 103 may receive multiple mediastreams at the same port or IP address. The multi-stream service 117 mayinvoke the bridge service 116, which may create one or more bridge(s)119 to join communication links and associated media streams. Forexample, one bridge 119 may be established to relay a first media streamfrom a caller device 106 to a recipient device 109 and another bridge119 may be established to relay a second media stream from a callerdevice 106 to a recipient device 109. In such a case, the multi-streamservice 117 may manage the communication session between the callerdevice 106 and the recipient device 109 so as to switch between thefirst and second bridges as necessary to maintain consistent oracceptable communication quality. In another example, the multi-streamapplication may combine or aggregate multiple incoming media streamsinto a single media stream before applying it to a bridge 119.Alternatively, the multi-stream service 117 and the contact server 103may relay multiple media streams or combined media streams between andamong communication devices 106, 109 without the use of the bridgeservice 116 or bridges 119.

The communication devices 106 and 109 illustrated in FIG. 1 arerepresentative of a plurality of communication devices that may becommunicatively coupled to one or more of the networks 111, 112 and 113.A communication device may comprise, for example, a processor-based orother computing system. For example, a communication device may beembodied in the form of a desktop computer, a laptop computer, apersonal digital assistant, a cellular telephone, a set-top box, a musicplayer, a web pad, a tablet computer, a game console, or any otherdevice with like capabilities, including hardware and softwarecomponents for establishing communication sessions via at least one ofthe networks 111, 112 and 113.

The schematic block diagram shows that the communication devices 106,109 may each include at least one processor 151, one or morecommunication interfaces 123, 126, and a memory 140, each of which iscoupled to a local interface 171. The local interface 171 may comprise,for example, a data bus with an accompanying address/control bus orother bus structure as can be appreciated.

In some embodiments, at least one of the exemplary communication devices106 and 109 may include hardware and software components forestablishing communication sessions via at least two networks, such astwo different networks 111, 112 and 113, or two similar networks basedon different standards (e.g., a 3G vs. 4G cellular network 112, or a 2.5GHz WiFi vs. a 5 GHz WiFi data network 112, etc.). For example, one orboth of the communication devices 106 and 109 may comprise a cellulartransceiver 123 and a Wi-Fi transceiver 126. The cellular transceiver123 may be configured to receive and transmit data over a cellularnetwork 111. The Wi-Fi transceiver 126 may be configured to receive andtransmit data over a data network 112. Additionally, the devices 106 and109 may include components (e.g., modem or network interface unit)configured to receive and transmit data over the PSTN 113.

The communication devices 106 and 109 may further include memory 140 forstoring software (e.g., operating system, applications, etc.) and data(e.g., intelligent communication session data 133, etc.). Thecommunication devices 106 and 109 may be configured to execute variousapplications, such as a data communication application 127, a cellularcommunication application 128, a handoff application 129 and/or amulti-stream application 130. A data communication application 127 mayprovide functionality for enabling a Wi-Fi transceiver 126 tocommunicate via a data network 112 and a cellular communicationapplication 128 may provide functionality for enabling a cellulartransceiver 123 to communicate via a cellular network 111.

The handoff application 129 may be executed by the communication devices106 and 109, for example, to determine when to handoff communicationsessions from one network to another network. For example, the callerdevice 106 may execute a handoff application 129 a that manages handoffsbetween a cellular network 111 a and a data network 112 a. The handoffapplication 129 a may make handoff determinations based on intelligentcommunication session data 133 a received from the handoff service 115or other functionality executed by the contact server 103, from othernetwork components or communication devices and/or generated locally atthe caller device 106. Alternatively, the handoff application 129 a mayreceive and respond to handoff instructions generated by the handoffservice 115 executed by the contact server 103. As is known in the art,mobile devices 106 and 109 may be configured to execute many otherapplications as well, such as, for example, voice communicationapplications, email applications, instant message applications, and/orother applications.

The multi-stream application 130 may be executed by the communicationdevices 106 and 109, for example, to control the transmission and/orprocessing of multiple media streams associated with a singlecommunication session. For example, the caller device 106 may execute amulti-stream application 130 a that interfaces with the datacommunication application 127 a and/or the cellular communicationapplication 128 a to control the transmission of multiple media streamsvia a data network 112 a and/or a cellular network 111 a. Themulti-stream application 130 a may determine when to invoke ordiscontinue transmission of multiple media streams based on intelligentcommunication session data 133 a received from the multi-stream service117 or other functionality executed by the contact server 103, fromother network components or communication devices and/or generatedlocally at the caller device 106. Alternatively, the multi-streamapplication 130 a may receive and respond to multi-stream instructionsgenerated by the multi-stream service 117 executed by the contact server103. Multi-stream instructions may include, for example, instructionsfor the initiation, termination and/or timing or sequencing ofmulti-stream transmissions. In the case of a recipient device, amulti-stream application 130 b may include functionality foraggregating, switching, mixing or otherwise combining or processingmultiple media streams transmitted or received in connection with asingle communication session.

As described above, multiple media streams transmitted by a callerdevice 106 may be directed to the contact server 103 (e.g., each mediastream transmitted to a different IP address or port of the contactserver 103, or multiple media streams transmitted to the same IP addressor port), which may aggregate, switch, mix or otherwise combine orprocess the multiple media streams to produce a single media stream thatis relayed to the recipient device 109. In other embodiments, however,the contact server 103 may merely provide means of contact and/orfacilitate signaling for the communication session, while media streamsflow directly between the communication devices 106, 109 via the variousnetworks 111, 112 and/or 113, or via peer-to-peer or proximity basedcommunications.

In embodiments where media streams are not relayed through the contactserver 103 (e.g., embodiments where communication devices 106, 109 usepeer-to-peer networks for communication sessions), it may be unnecessaryor undesirable to execute the handoff service 115, the bridge service116 and/or the multi-stream service 117 at the contact server 103.Instead, one or all of these services may be executed by other networkdevices (e.g., in the cloud) or may be executed locally by one or morecommunication device(s) 106, 109. In cases where the handoff service115, the bridge service 116 and/or the multi-stream service 117 areexecuted in the cloud, the communication devices 106, 109 may interactwith those services to receive intelligent communication session data133, handoff instructions, multi-streaming instructions and/or callbridging services. In cases where the handoff service 115 and/or themulti-stream service 117 are executed locally on a communication device106, 109, those services may interact with, or may replace, the handoffapplication 129 and multi-stream application 130 in order to perform theintelligent handoff and multi-streaming functionality described herein.Executing the bridge service 116 locally on a communication device 106,109 will allow that device to provide call bridging services to othercommunication devices.

A general description of the operation of the various components of theexemplary networked environment 100 is as follows. To begin, a user ofthe caller device 106 may wish to initiate a voice call and/or othercommunication session with another user of another communication device,such as the recipient device 109. By way of example, the caller device106 may identify and connect to an accessible data network 112 a, whichmay be an IP-based network, to initiate a communication session, whichmay be a voice-over-IP (VoIP) call. In some cases, the caller device 106may be configured to interact with the resources of the data network 112a, which in turn interact with the contact server 103 to establish acommunication link between the caller device 106 and the contact server103. The contact server 103 then establishes a communication link withthe recipient device 109.

As will be appreciated, the recipient device 109 may be connected to acellular network 111 b, a data network 112 b or the PSTN 113 b. Thecontact server 103 may invoke a bridge service 116 to bridge the twocommunication links together or may otherwise relay media between thetwo communication links to facilitate the communication session betweenthe caller device 106 and the recipient device 109. Alternatively, thecontact server 103 may use the two communication links as signalingpaths to otherwise facilitate the communication session between thecommunication devices 106, 109. In still other embodiments, the callerdevice 106 may establish the communication session with the recipientdevice 109 over a peer-to-peer network or communication link withoutinvolving the contact server. Accordingly, the bridge service 116,handoff service 115 and multi-stream service 117 do not need to beexecuted by the contact server 103 in some embodiments and could insteadbe executed in the cloud or locally at the caller device 106 and/orrecipient device 109. Additionally, in some exemplary environments, acontact server 103 may be used to facilitate and manage a portion of theconnection link(s) while the remaining of the communication links areserviced in the cloud or locally at the communication devices 106, 109.

As described, in some embodiments the bridge service 116 may be invokedto create and manage a bridge 119 for the communication session. Thebridge service 116 may receive or determine identifying informationrelated to the communication session, such as a unique identifier of thecaller device 106 (e.g., a caller telephone number) and a uniqueidentifier of the recipient device 109 (e.g., a recipient telephonenumber). The bridge service 116 associates the communication sessionwith it the identifying information, shown in the figure as the callerdevice ID 120 and the recipient device ID 121. Other unique identifiersmay be used to identify the communication session in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, the bridge service 116 may monitor thecommunication session or bridge 119 to ensure that both the callerdevice 106 and the recipient device 109 remain connected to the call. Asis known in the art, a communication device may lose its connection tothe call due to signal degradation, a failed handoff from one network toanother, and/or any of several other factors. If the bridge service 116detects that the caller device 106 and/or the recipient device 109 losesits connection prematurely before termination of the communicationsession, the bridge service 116 may make or cause an attempt toreestablish a communication link with that device so as to continue thecommunication session.

Alternatively, a communication device (e.g., caller device 106) thatprematurely loses its connection to the bridge 119 may attempt toreestablish a communication session with the other communication device(e.g., recipient device 109). In response to the new communicationsession request, the bridge service 116 may determine, based on thecaller device ID 120 and recipient device ID 121 (or other uniqueidentifier(s)), whether the bridge 119 is still active (e.g., thecommunication session has not timed-out nor been terminated by the othercommunication device). If so, the new link between the caller device 106and the contact server 103 may be added to the bridge 119 so as toresume the communication session.

In some embodiments, the bridge service 116 or other relatedfunctionality may record some or all of the communication session forplayback to a communication device that loses it connection and issubsequently rejoined to the communication session. In this manner, thecommunication device will receive at least some of the media (e.g.,voice, messages, etc.) that were transmitted by the other communicationdevice while the communication link was broken. The data rate of therecording may be increased during playback and/or the recording may bealtered to remove pauses, noise, etc. in order to speed-up playback andtherefore return more quickly to real-time communications.

A handoff service 115 may be executed during the communication session.The handoff service 115 may also monitor the communication sessionbetween the caller device 106 and the recipient device 109. Thismonitoring may be performed by the handoff service 115 itself, or inconjunction with the bridge service 116 if the bridge service 116 isalso executed. The handoff service 115 may monitor certain aspects andfeatures of the communication session, such as, available networks,detected signal strength of communication link(s), protocol and bufferstatistics and analysis, including data or packet sequences received orpackets dropped, network latency, jitter, delay, and other qualitativemeasures (e.g., based on ack/nack and other messages received from thecommunication devices 106, 109 and/or other network components), etc.,the location(s) of the communication devices 106, 109, includingenvironmental and/or geographical factors associated with suchlocations, the performance of access points and other networkcomponents, past interactions between or among communication devices,access points and other network components, the context of theconversation during a voice call, etc.

The handoff service 115 generates intelligent communication session data133 based on the monitored aspects and features of the communicationsession. Depending on where the handoff service 115 is executed (e.g.,on the contact server 103, in the cloud or on a communication device),the intelligent communication session data 133 may be stored in the datastore 114, in the memory 140 of one or more of the communication devices106, 109, and/or in other network component(s). In some embodiments, thehandoff service 115 analyzes intelligent communication session data 133in real time or near real time to predictively determine when a handoffof the communication session should be performed. For example, thehandoff service 115 may compare current intelligent communicationsession data 133 to historical intelligent communication session data133 to determine that one of the communication devices 106, 109 isapproaching a location where communication sessions tend or may belikely to be dropped or interrupted or where communication quality tendsto or may be likely to degrade. As another example, the handoff service115 may determine based on intelligent communication session data 133that one of the communication devices 106, 109 is connected to an accesspoint that is prone to service interruptions or poor communicationquality. As another example, the handoff service 115 may determine basedon intelligent communication session data 133 that a handoff isdesirable when one of the communication devices 106, 109 approaches orencounters an accessible location that is capable of providing a higherlevel of quality for the communication session, even if the quality ofthe existing communication session has not necessarily degraded. Whenthe handoff service 115 determines that a handoff is necessary or maysoon become necessary, it may issue a handoff instruction to the handoffapplication 129 executed by one or more of the communication devices106, 109.

Similarly, the multi-stream service 117 may be executed during acommunication session and may also monitor the communication sessionbetween the caller device 106 and the recipient device 109. Thismonitoring may be performed by the multi-stream service 117 itself, orin conjunction with the bridge service 116 or other relatedfunctionality. The multi-stream service 117 may monitor certain aspectsand features of the communication session, as previously described. Themulti-stream service 117 generates intelligent communication sessiondata 133 based on the monitored aspects and features of thecommunication session, which may be stored in the data store 114, in thememory 140 of one or more of the communication devices 106, 109, and/orin other network component(s).

In some embodiments, the multi-stream service 117 analyzes intelligentcommunication session data 133 in real time or near real time topredictively determine when a communication device 106, 109 should beginto transmit or stop transmitting multiple media streams in connectionwith a single communication session. As in the case of intelligenthandoffs, the multi-stream service 117 may determine based onintelligent communication session data 133 that multi-streaming isdesirable in cases where one of the communication devices 106, 109 isapproaching a location where communication sessions tend or may belikely to be dropped or interrupted or where communication quality tendsto or may be likely to degrade, or where one of the communicationdevices 106, 109 is connected to an access point that is prone toservice interruptions or poor communication quality. As another example,the multi-stream service 117 may determine based on intelligentcommunication session data 133 that multi-streaming is desirable whenone of the communication devices 106, 109 approaches or encounters anaccessible location that is capable of providing a higher level ofquality for the communication session. In other words, one or morehigher quality media streams may be established at least temporarilywhile the communication device 106, 109 is within range of such locationand those media streams may be terminated when the communication 106,109 moves out of range of such location or the quality of the primarycommunication link otherwise improves to an acceptable level. When themulti-stream service 117 determines that multi-streaming is necessary ormay soon become necessary, it may issue a multi-streaming instruction tothe multi-stream application 130 executed by one or more of thecommunication devices 106, 109.

The handoff service 115 and the multi-stream service 117 may be executedconcurrently or may be used as alternatives to each other. When usedconcurrently, additional functionality or logic is required to determinewhether a handoff or multi-streaming should be invoked where both areavailable options for enhancing communication sessions and/or avoiding adropped or interrupted communication session. For instance, prioritiesmay be set within the logic of the handoff service 115, the multi-streamservice 117 or other related functionality such that in certain casesmulti-streaming takes precedence over handoff or vice versa. As but oneexample, where it is desirable to maximize usage of a data network 112(e.g., due to lower cost), it may be preferable to temporarilysupplement a media stream transmitted via the data network 112 using aconcurrent media stream transmitted via a cellular network 111, ratherhanding-off the communication session from the data network 112 to thecellular network 111 and subsequently handing-off the communicationsession from the cellular network 111 back to the data network 112.

In some embodiments, the handoff application 129 a executed by thecaller device 106 may not passively await handoff instructions from thehandoff service 115 (e.g., where the handoff service 115 is executed bythe contact server 103 or in the cloud), but may additionally oralternatively monitor the communication link(s) of the communicationsession to detect and assess any degradation in connectivity. Forexample, the handoff application 129 a may monitor the strength of theconnection signal received by the Wi-Fi transceiver 126 a or thecellular transceiver 128 a during the communication session. As thecaller device 106 moves away from the applicable access point, thehandoff application 129 a detects a degradation in the quality of thecommunication link. In some embodiments, the handoff application 129 amay determine that the signal strength of the connection signal degradesbelow a threshold value.

In other embodiments, the handoff application 129 a may determine thatone or more other characteristics of the communication link between thecaller device 106 and a network access point degrade below a thresholdvalue. For example, the handoff application 129 a may determine that anamount of packet loss is below a threshold packet loss value, an amountof network latency exceeds a threshold latency value, an amount ofjitter exceeds a threshold jitter value, an amount of delay exceeds athreshold delay value, etc. In such a case, the handoff application 129a may determine a need to handoff the communication from the datanetwork 112 a to another network, such as, for example the cellularnetwork 111 a.

Upon detecting degradation in the quality of the communication link orother factor(s) potentially necessitating a handoff, the handoffapplication 129 a may trigger a handoff of the communication session toanother available network. For example, the handoff application 129 amay cause the caller device 106 to scan for available networks, such asfor example, a cellular network 111 a using the cellular transceiver 123and/or a data network 112 a using the Wi-Fi transceiver 126, to identifyother accessible networks. The handoff application 129 may identify theother networks by scanning for connection signals being transmitted fromtransceivers and/or antennas, such as, for example, cellular basestations or other wireless access points. The handoff application 129 amay then cause the caller device 106 to handoff the communicationsession to one of the identified networks. Those skilled in the art willappreciate that the caller device 106 may be configured to performhandoffs itself and/or may be configured to perform network-assistedhandoffs or any other suitable handoff approach known in the art. Therecipient device 109 may also, or alternatively, execute its own handoffapplication 129 b.

Upon handing-off a communication session, the handoff application 129 amay store information related to the handoff as intelligentcommunication session data 133 a. For example, the handoff application129 a may store information such as the identification of the newnetwork (e.g., a unique identifier of the access point, antenna, and/ortransceiver to which the caller device 106 is connected after thehandoff), a geographic location where the handoff occurred (e.g.,geo-spatial coordinates), a date and time of the handoff, and/or anyother information related to the handoff. In addition, the handoffapplication 129 a may store information related to the communicationlink prior to the handoff. For example, the handoff application 129 amay store a signal strength value and geographic location when thecaller device 106 was last connected to the prior network and/or anyother information related to the previous connection with the priornetwork.

In addition to triggering handoffs based on detected signal degradationor other characteristics of a network link, a handoff application 129may in some embodiments trigger handoffs based on an analysis of otherintelligent communication session data 133 gathered locally and/orintelligent communication session data 133 received from the contactserver 103 and/or from other network components or communicationdevices.

In some embodiments, the handoff application 129 predicativelydetermines whether to initiate a handoff based on intelligentcommunication session data 133. For instance, the handoff application129 may anticipate, based on the intelligent communication session data133, that the quality of the network link might soon degrade. Todetermine whether to initiate a handoff, the handoff application 129 maycompare intelligent communication session data 133 related to a currentconnection and location of the caller device 106 with historicalintelligent communication session data 133. For instance, the historicalintelligent communication session data 133 may indicate that a handoffoccurred one or more times when the caller device 106 was previously atits current location. In response, the handoff application 129 mayproactively initiate a handoff to another network, as described above,before the current connection is lost.

The handoff application 129 may invoke location based services or thelike to determine the current location of the caller device 106. Forexample, the location based services may include a GPS chip andassociated software or firmware for monitoring the location of thecaller device 106 using a global positioning system. Alternatively, orin addition, the location based services may comprise software thatinteracts with the Wi-Fi transceiver 126 a and/or cellular transceiver123 a to monitor signals generated and/or received by the caller device106 when it communicates with other devices (e.g. wireless accesspoints, base stations, etc.) in the applicable network. The signals mayprovide or may be used to provide an indication of the geographicallocation of the caller device 106 at a particular time, such as bytriangulation or techniques like time difference of arrival (TDOA) orEnhanced Observed Time Difference (E-OTD), etc. The signals may thuspermit the handoff application 129 to track the location of the callerdevice 106 and maintain a record of that information.

Alternatively, or in addition, devices in the wireless data network 112a or cellular network 111 a may be configured to track the location ofthe caller device 106 and to provide the location information to thecaller device 106 and/or the contact server 103 and/or another networkdevice. For example, devices in the data network 112 a or cellularnetwork 111 a may determine the location of the caller device 106 basedon the delay of communication signals sent between the caller device 106and the closest wireless access point(s), base station(s), etc. In suchcases, the geographical position of the caller device 106 is determinedthrough various techniques like triangulation, time difference ofarrival (TDOA) or Enhanced Observed Time Difference (E-OTD). Thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that any other location based servicetechnology may be used in accordance with the present invention.Examples of such other technologies include: Near LBS (NLBS), in whichlocal-range technologies such as Bluetooth, WLAN, infrared and/orRFID/Near Field Communication technologies are used to determine theposition of a communication device; the use of operator-independentlocation data provided in telecommunication signaling protocols such asSS7; and Local Positioning Systems such as Co-Pilot Beacon for CDMAnetworks, Bluetooth, UWB, RFID, Wi-Fi and WiMAX.

In some embodiments, the handoff application 129 may predictivelydetermine when to initiate a handoff based on intelligent communicationsession data comprising audio data quality or the context of theconversation during a voice call. For instance, the handoff application129 may scan the audio data of a voice call to detect indicia of pooraudio quality (jitter, delay, noise, etc.) or to identify abnormalbreaks and/or gaps in the conversation. Upon identifying an unacceptablelevel of audio data quality or unacceptable breaks in the conversation,the handoff application 129 may initiate a handoff process. In otherembodiments, the handoff application 129 may predictively determine whento initiate a handoff for a communication session based on a videoquality of a video call, and/or any other qualitative measure of a mediacall. In still other embodiments, the handoff application 129 maydetermine that a handoff should be initiated when it is determined thatthe caller device 106 transitions from a stationary state to a mobilestate.

In some embodiments, intelligent communication session data 133 may begathered from other communication devices 106 and 109 and other networkcomponents, i.e., “crowd-sourced”. For instance, the handoff application129 or other functionality executed on each communication device 106 and109 may transmit intelligent communication session data 133 to thehandoff service 115 or to other communication devices or other networkdevices. In some embodiments, the intelligent communication session data133 may be transmitted to the handoff service 115 or to othercommunication devices or other network devices on a periodic basis, suchas, for example, daily, weekly, monthly, and/or any other periodicbasis. Alternatively, the intelligent communication session data 133 maybe transmitted whenever the intelligent communication session data 133is modified and/or gathered. In other scenarios, the handoff service 115may poll the communication devices 106 and 109 for intelligentcommunication session data 133 and/or may generate intelligentcommunication session data 133 itself based on information received fromvarious communication devices.

In still other embodiments, a plurality of communication devices 106,109 may share intelligent communication session data 133 with each othervia proximity-based communications (e.g., communications via WiFi,Bluetooth, Infrared (IR), Near Field Communication (NFC) or Ultra-WideBand (UWB) signals). In addition, other network components, such asnetwork access points, may be configured to generate intelligentcommunication session data 133 and to store that data and/or transmit itto a communication device 106, 109 and/or to the handoff service 115.Therefore, the handoff application 129 may use shared intelligentcommunication session data 133 served up by the handoff service 115and/or other communication devices and/or other network components topredictively determine whether to initiate a handoff before the currentcommunication session is lost.

Similarly, the multi-stream application 130 a executed by the callerdevice 106 may not passively await multi-streaming instructions from themulti-stream service 117 (e.g., where the multi-stream service 117 isexecuted by the contact server 103 or in the cloud), but mayadditionally or alternatively monitor the communication link(s) of thecommunication session to detect and assess any degradation inconnectivity or other characteristics of the communication link(s). Themulti-stream application 130 may also analyze intelligent communicationsession data 133 gathered locally and/or intelligent communicationsession data 133 received from the multi-stream service 117 and/or fromother network components or communication devices, as described withreference to the handoff application 115. Upon detecting that theconnection has degraded below a predetermined threshold or that otherintelligent communication session data 133 predicts an interrupted ordropped communication session (based on any or all of the examples citedwith respect to the handoff application 115), the multi-streamapplication 130 a may trigger the initiation of one or more additionalmedia streams to be transmitted via one or more other availablenetworks. The recipient device 109 may also, or alternatively, executeits own multi-stream application 130 b.

Referring next to FIG. 2, shown is a flowchart that provides one exampleof the operation of portions of the contact server 103 (FIG. 1)according to certain embodiments in which it may be used as a mediarelay for two or more communication devices 106, 109. In suchembodiments, the contact server 103 uses a bridge service 116 to invokeand manage bridges 119 to establish and manage communication sessionsbetween or among communication devices. It is understood that theflowchart of FIG. 2 provides merely an example of the many differenttypes of functional arrangements that may be employed to implementoperation of portions of the contact server 103 as described herein. Asan alternative, the flowchart of FIG. 2 may be viewed as depicting anexample of steps of a method implemented in the networked environment(FIG. 1) according to one or more embodiments.

At line 201, the caller device 106 initiates a communication session(e.g., a voice call) to a recipient device 109, via the contact server103. In one embodiment, the contact server may receive the request overa cellular network 111 a, a data network 112 a, a PSTN 113 a, and/oranother type of network. The contact server 103 may determine theidentity of the recipient device 109 from data included in the request.For instance, the data included in the request may comprise a uniquephone number, user name, internet protocol (IP) address, and/or otheridentification associated with the recipient device 109. The contactserver 103 processes the request for the communication session andinvokes the bridge service 116 at line 203.

Then, at line 206, the bridge service 116 may initialize a bridge 119 onwhich the communication session may take place. For instance, the bridgeservice 116 may initialize the bridge 119 such that users on more thanone communication device may connect to the bridge 119. Additionally,the bridge service 116 may associate the phone number of the callerdevice 106 (e.g., caller ID 120 shown in FIG. 1) and the phone number ofthe recipient device 109 (e.g., the recipient ID 121 shown in FIG. 1)with the bridge 119. In another embodiment, the bridge service 116 mayassociate another type of unique identifier with the bridge 119. Oncethe bridge 119 is initialized, the contact server 103 instructs thecaller device 106 to connect to the bridge 119 or otherwise connects thecaller device 106 to the bridge 119, as shown by line 207. The callerdevice 106 is connected to the bridge 119 at line 209.

At line 213, the contact server 103 establishes the out-bound portion ofthe communication session with the recipient device 109. In oneembodiment, the contact server 103 communicates with the recipientdevice 109 via a cellular network 111 b (FIG. 1), a data network 112 b,a PSTN 113 b, and/or another type of network. Assuming the user on therecipient device 109 accepts the request, the recipient device 109connects to the bridge 119, as shown at line 216. For instance, thecontact server 103 may determine that the recipient device 109 acceptedthe request by way of a ring back, a custom ring back tone, anacceptance greeting, and/or any other type of acceptance notification.

At line 223, the communication session is established between the callerdevice 106 and the recipient device 109 via the bridge 119. The bridgeservice 116 may then monitor the connectivity of both devices 106 and109 with the bridge 119. In one embodiment, the bridge service 116determines whether either one of the caller devices 106 or the recipientdevice 109 loses connection with the bridge 119. For instance, therecipient device 109 may unexpectedly lose its connection to the bridge119. As another example, the handoff service 115 executed by the contactserver 103 and/or the handoff application 130 b executed by therecipient device may cause the recipient device 109 to perform a handofffrom one network to another, which may temporarily cause the recipientdevice 109 to lose its connection to the bridge 119. In response, thebridge service 116 may cause the contact server 103 to reestablishconnection with the recipient device 109, as shown at line 225. Thebridge service 116 may then determine that the bridge 119 is stillactive (based on a match of the unique identifier, etc.) and the contactserver 103 may instruct the recipient device 100 to re-connect to thebridge 119 or otherwise re-connects the recipient device 109 to thebridge 119, as shown by line 227.

Referring next to FIG. 3, shown is a flowchart that illustrates anexemplary method for performing intelligent handoffs and/ormulti-streaming in order to enhance communication sessions and/or avoiddropped or interrupted communication sessions. This or similar methodsmay be executed by the handoff service 115 and/or the multi-streamservice 117 regardless of whether the handoff service 115 or themulti-stream service 117 are executed on the contact server 103, in thecloud, or on one or more of the communication devices 106, 109. Themethod of FIG. 3 may also, or alternatively, be performed by a handoffapplication 129 and/or multi-stream application 130 executed by acommunication device 106, 109, according to certain embodiments. It isto be understood that the flowchart of FIG. 3 provides merely an exampleof the many different types of functional arrangements that may beemployed to implement operations of a handoff application 129 and/orhandoff service 115 and/or a multi-stream application 130 and/ormulti-stream service 117 as described herein. As an alternative, theflowchart of FIG. 3 may be viewed as depicting an example of steps of amethod implemented in the networked environment 100 (FIG. 1) accordingto one or more embodiments.

The exemplary method begins at start step 301 and proceeds from there tostep 302, where one or more communication links is monitored. Asdescribed, various characteristics of a communication link may bemonitored, including connection strength, access points used, locationof communication devices, media stream quality, and any other previouslydescribed intelligent communication session data. Then in step 304 thecharacteristic(s) of the communication link(s) are compared topreviously stored intelligent communication session data 133 topredictively determine if a handoff or multi-streaming may be needed toenhance a communication session and/or avoid a dropped or interruptedcommunication session. If it is determined at step 306 that a handoff ormulti-streaming should be performed, the method advances to step 308,where the handoff or multi-streaming is caused or facilitated. After thehandoff or multi-streaming is performed in step 308, or if is determinedin step 306 that no handoff or multi-streaming is needed, the methodmoves to step 310, where additional intelligent communication sessiondata 133 is generated and stored relating to whether or not a handoff ormulti-streaming was determined to be needed. Such data may include, forexample, the characteristic(s) of the applicable communications link(s)at the time such determination was made, etc.

At step 312, a determination is made as to whether the communicationsession remains active. If so, the method returns to step 302, where oneor more of the communications links are again monitored, and the methodis repeated from that point as previously described. When it isdetermined at step 312 that the communication session is no longeractive, the method ends at step 314.

Referring next to FIG. 4, shown is a flowchart that provides one exampleof how multiple media streams may be processed in order to form a singlemedia stream for a communication session. This or similar methods may beperformed by a multi-stream service 117 regardless of whether themulti-stream service 117 is executed on the contact server 103, in thecloud, or on one or more of the communication devices 106, 109. Inaddition, or in the alternative, the method of FIG. 4 may be performedby a multi-stream application 130 executed by one or more of thecommunication devices 106, 109, according to certain embodiments. It isto be understood that the flowchart of FIG. 4 provides merely an exampleof the many different types of functional arrangements that may beemployed to implement operations of a multi-stream service 117 and/or amulti-stream application 130 as described herein. As an alternative, theflowchart of FIG. 4 may be viewed as depicting an example of steps of amethod implemented in the networked environment 100 (FIG. 1) accordingto one or more embodiments.

The exemplary method begins at start step 401 and proceeds to step 402,where a first incoming media stream is monitored to determine if anysignificant portions of it are degraded or missing. If it is determinedat step 404 that no significant portions of the first media stream aredegraded or missing, the first media stream is transmitted or continuesto be transmitted to the intended communication device at step 406.Following step 406, the method returns to step 402 to continuemonitoring the first media stream. However, if it is determined at step404 that significant portions of the first media stream are degraded ormissing, the method advances to step 408, where such portions of thefirst media stream are supplemented with corresponding portions of oneor more other incoming media streams. By way of example, degraded ormissing packets from the first media stream can be replaced bycorresponding packets taken or reproduced from the one or more othermedia streams. Other techniques for combining or aggregating multiplemedia streams will occur to those of skill in the art and are deemed tobe encompassed by this disclosure. After supplementing the first mediastream with portions of one or more other incoming media streams at step408, the combined media stream is transmitted to the intendedcommunication device at step 410. From step 410, the method returns tostep 402 where the first media stream continues to be monitored and isrepeated from that point as described above for as long as multiplemedia streams are received.

The flowcharts of FIGS. 2-4 show the functionality and operation ofvarious services and applications described herein. If embodied insoftware, each block may represent a module, segment, or portion of codethat comprises program instructions to implement the specified logicalfunction(s). The program instructions may be embodied in the form ofsource code that comprises human-readable statements written in aprogramming language or machine code that comprises numericalinstructions recognizable by a suitable execution system such as aprocessor in a computer system or other system. The machine code may beconverted from the source code, etc. If embodied in hardware, each blockmay represent a circuit or a number of interconnected circuits toimplement the specified logical function(s).

Although the flowcharts of FIGS. 2-4 each show a specific order ofexecution, it is understood that the order of execution may differ fromthat which is depicted. Also, steps shown in succession in theflowcharts may be executed concurrently or with partial concurrence.Further, in some embodiments, one or more of the steps shown in theflowcharts may be skipped or omitted. In addition, any number ofcounters, state variables, warning semaphores, or messages might beadded to the logical flows described herein, for purposes of enhancedutility, accounting, performance measurement, or providingtroubleshooting aids, etc. It is understood that all such variations arewithin the scope of the present disclosure.

Where any component discussed herein is implemented in the form ofsoftware, any one of a number of programming languages may be employedsuch as, for example, C, C++, C#, Objective C, Java, Javascript, Perl,PHP, Visual Basic, Python, Ruby, Delphi, Flash, or other programminglanguages. Software components are stored in a memory and are executableby a processor. In this respect, the term “executable” means a programfile that is in a form that can ultimately be run by a processor.Examples of executable programs may be, for example, a compiled programthat can be translated into machine code in a format that can be loadedinto a random access portion of a memory and run by a processor, sourcecode that may be expressed in proper format such as object code that iscapable of being loaded into a random access portion of a memory andexecuted by a processor, or source code that may be interpreted byanother executable program to generate instructions in a random accessportion of a memory to be executed by a processor, etc. An executableprogram may be stored in any portion or component of a memory including,for example, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), harddrive, solid-state drive, USB flash drive, memory card, optical discsuch as compact disc (CD) or digital versatile disc (DVD), floppy disk,magnetic tape, or other memory components. [0074] A memory is definedherein as including both volatile and nonvolatile memory and datastorage components. Volatile components are those that do not retaindata values upon loss of power. Nonvolatile components are those thatretain data upon a loss of power. Thus, a memory may comprise, forexample, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard diskdrives, solid-state drives, USB flash drives, memory cards accessed viaa memory card reader, floppy disks accessed via an associated floppydisk drive, optical discs accessed via an optical disc drive, magnetictapes accessed via an appropriate tape drive, and/or other memorycomponents, or a combination of any two or more of these memorycomponents. In addition, the RAM may comprise, for example, staticrandom access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), ormagnetic random access memory (MRAM) and other such devices. The ROM maycomprise, for example, a programmable read-only memory (PROM), anerasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EEPROM), or other like memory device.

The devices described herein may include multiple processors andmultiple memories that operate in parallel processing circuits,respectively. In such a case, a local interface, such as a communicationbus, may facilitate communication between any two of the multipleprocessors, between any processor and any of the memories, or betweenany two of the memories, etc. A local interface may comprise additionalsystems designed to coordinate this communication, including, forexample, performing load balancing. A processor may be of electrical orof some other available construction.

Although the handoff service 115, bridge service 116, multi-streamservice 117, handoff application 129, multi-stream application 130 andother various systems and components described herein may be embodied insoftware or code executed by general purpose hardware, as an alternativethe same may also be embodied in dedicated hardware or a combination ofsoftware/general purpose hardware and dedicated hardware. If embodied indedicated hardware, each can be implemented as a circuit or statemachine that employs any one of or a combination of a number oftechnologies. These technologies may include, but are not limited to,discrete logic circuits having logic gates for implementing variouslogic functions upon an application of one or more data signals,application specific integrated circuits having appropriate logic gates,or other components, etc. Such technologies are generally well known bythose skilled in the art and, consequently, are not described in detailherein.

Also, any logic, functionality or application described herein,including the handoff service 115, bridge service 116, multi-streamservice 117, handoff application 129, multi-stream application 130, thatcomprises software or code can be embodied in any non-transitorycomputer-readable medium for use by or in connection with an instructionexecution system such as, for example, a processor in a computer systemor other system. In this sense, the logic may comprise, for example,statements including instructions and declarations that can be fetchedfrom the computer-readable medium and executed by the instructionexecution system. In the context of the present disclosure, a“computer-readable medium” can be any medium that can contain, store, ormaintain the logic or application described herein for use by or inconnection with the instruction execution system. The computer-readablemedium can comprise any one of many physical media such as, for example,magnetic, optical, or semiconductor media. More specific examples of asuitable computer-readable medium would include, but are not limited to,magnetic tapes, magnetic floppy diskettes, magnetic hard drives, memorycards, solid-state drives, USB flash drives, or optical discs. Also, thecomputer-readable medium may be a random access memory (RAM) including,for example, static random access memory (SRAM) and dynamic randomaccess memory (DRAM), or magnetic random access memory (MRAM). Inaddition, the computer-readable medium may be a read-only memory (ROM),a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmableread-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmableread-only memory (EEPROM), or other type of memory device.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of thepresent disclosure are merely possible examples of implementations setforth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure.Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-describedembodiment(s) without departing substantially from the spirit andprinciples of the disclosure. All such modifications and variations areintended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure andprotected by the following claims.

1. A method comprising: hosting a communication session between a firstcommunication device and a second communication device in an InternetProtocol (IP) based packet data network in which (i) a contact serverfunctions as a bridge service between the first communication device andthe second communication device, and (ii) at least one of acommunication link between the first communication device and thecontact server and the second communication device and the contactserver is initially a voice-over IP (VoIP) communication link over awireless data network; analyzing at least one call qualitycharacteristic of the VoIP communication link; and causing thecommunication device having the VoIP communication link to handoff theVoIP communication link from the wireless data network to a cellularcommunication link on a cellular network when at least one analyzed callquality characteristic of the VoIP communication link crosses athreshold level.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least oneanalyzed call quality characteristic includes a detected signalstrength; available networks; protocol and buffer statistics andanalysis; environmental factors; geographical factors, performance ofaccess points and other network components; past interactions between oramong communication devices, access points and other network components;and context of conversations during voice calls.
 3. The method of claim1, further comprising: predictively determining whether a handoff isneeded to avoid an interruption in or dropping of the communicationsession; and causing the communication device having the VoIPcommunication link to handoff the VoIP communication link from thewireless data network to the cellular communication link on the cellularnetwork when it is predictively determined that a handoff is needed. 4.The method of claim 3, wherein predictively determining whether ahandoff is needed comprises: comparing the analyzed call qualitycharacteristics of the VoIP communication link to intelligentcommunication session data stored in a data store to determine whetherthe call quality characteristics of the VoIP communication link areapproaching the threshold level.
 5. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: storing the analyzed call quality characteristics of theVoIP communication link in the data store as additional intelligentcommunication session data.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein causingthe communication device having the VoIP communication link to handoffthe VoIP communication link from the wireless data network to a cellularcommunication link on a cellular network comprises: transmitting ahandoff instruction to the communication device having the VoIPcommunication link.
 7. The method of claim 4, wherein at least some ofthe intelligent communication session data is received from thecommunication device having the VoIP communication link.
 8. A methodcomprising: hosting a communication session between a firstcommunication device and a second communication device in an InternetProtocol (IP) based packet data network in which (i) a contact serverfunctions as a bridge service between the first communication device andthe second communication device, and (ii) at least one of acommunication link between the first communication device and thecontact server and the second communication device and the contactserver is initially a cellular communication link over a cellularnetwork; analyzing at least one call quality characteristic of thecellular communication link; and causing the communication device havingthe cellular communication link to handoff the cellular communicationlink from the cellular network to a voice-over IP (VoIP) communicationlink on a wireless data network when (i) a satisfactory wireless datasignal is present, or (ii) the analyzed call quality characteristics ofthe cellular communication link cross a threshold.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, wherein the at least one analyzed call quality characteristicincludes a detected signal strength; available networks; protocol andbuffer statistics and analysis; environmental factors; geographicalfactors, performance of access points and other network components; pastinteractions between or among communication devices, access points andother network components; and context of conversations during voicecalls.
 10. The method of claim 8, further comprising: predictivelydetermining whether a handoff is needed to avoid an interruption in ordropping of the communication session; and causing the communicationdevice having the cellular communication link to handoff the cellularcommunication link from the cellular network to the VoIP communicationlink on the wireless data network when it is predictively determinedthat a handoff is needed.
 11. The method of claim 10, whereinpredictively determining whether a handoff is needed comprises:comparing the analyzed call quality characteristics of the cellularcommunication link to intelligent communication session data stored in adata store to determine whether the call quality characteristics of thecellular communication link are approaching the threshold level.
 12. Themethod of claim 8, further comprising: storing the analyzed call qualitycharacteristics of the cellular communication link in the data store asadditional intelligent communication session data.
 13. The method ofclaim 8, wherein causing the communication device having the cellularcommunication link to handoff the cellular communication link from thecellular network to a VoIP communication link on a wireless data networkcomprises: transmitting a handoff instruction to the communicationdevice having the cellular communication link.
 14. The method of claim11, wherein at least some of the intelligent communication session datais received from the communication device having the cellularcommunication link.
 15. A system comprising: a contact server in anInternet Protocol (IP) based packet data network operative to: host acommunication session between a first communication device and a secondcommunication device; bridge communication links between the firstcommunication device and the contact server and the second communicationdevice and the contact server to create a communication session betweenthe first and second communication devices, wherein at least one of acommunication link between the first communication device and thecontact server and the second communication device and the contactserver is initially a voice-over IP (VoIP) communication link over awireless data network; analyze at least one call quality characteristicof the VoIP communication link; and cause the communication devicehaving the VoIP communication link to handoff the VoIP communicationlink from the wireless data network to a cellular communication link ona cellular network when the analyzed call quality characteristics of theVoIP communication link cross a threshold level.
 16. The system of claim15, wherein the at least one analyzed call quality characteristicincludes a detected signal strength; available networks; protocol andbuffer statistics and analysis; environmental factors; geographicalfactors, performance of access points and other network components; pastinteractions between or among communication devices, access points andother network components; and context of conversations during voicecalls.
 17. The system of claim 15, the contact server further operativeto: predictively determine whether a handoff is needed; and cause thecommunication device having the VoIP communication link to handoff theVoIP communication link from the wireless data network to the cellularcommunication link on the cellular network when it is predictivelydetermined that a handoff is needed.
 18. The system of claim 17, thecontact server further operative to: compare the analyzed call qualitycharacteristics of the VoIP communication link to intelligentcommunication session data stored in a data store to determine whetherthe call quality characteristics of the VoIP communication link areapproaching the threshold level.
 19. The system of claim 15, the contactserver further operative to: store the analyzed call qualitycharacteristics of the communication session in the data store asadditional intelligent communication session data.
 20. The system ofclaim 15, the contact server further operative to: transmit a handoffinstruction to the communication device having the VoIP communicationlink.
 21. The system of claim 15, the contact server further operativeto: receive the intelligent communication session data from thecommunication device having the initial VoIP communication link.
 22. Asystem comprising: a contact server in an Internet Protocol (IP) basedpacket data network operative to: host a communication session between afirst communication device and a second communication device; bridgecommunication links between the first communication device and thecontact server and the second communication device and the contactserver to create a communication session between the first and secondcommunication devices, wherein at least one of a communication linkbetween the first communication device and the contact server and thesecond communication device and the contact server is initially acellular communication link over a cellular network; analyze at leastone call quality characteristic of the cellular communication link; andcause the communication device having the cellular communication link tohandoff the cellular communication link from the cellular network to aVoice-over IP (VoIP) communication link on a wireless data network whenthe analyzed call quality characteristics of the cellular communicationlink cross a threshold level.
 23. The system of claim 22, wherein the atleast one analyzed call quality characteristic includes a detectedsignal strength; available networks; protocol and buffer statistics andanalysis; environmental factors; geographical factors, performance ofaccess points and other network components; past interactions between oramong communication devices, access points and other network components;and context of conversations during voice calls.
 24. The system of claim22, the contact server further operative to: predictively determinewhether a handoff is needed; and cause the communication device havingthe cellular communication link to handoff the cellular communicationlink from the cellular network to the VoIP communication link on thewireless data network when it is predictively determined that a handoffis needed.
 25. The system of claim 24, the contact server furtheroperative to: compare the analyzed call quality characteristics of thecellular communication link to intelligent communication session datastored in a data store to determine whether the call qualitycharacteristics of the cellular communication link are approaching thethreshold level.
 26. The system of claim 22, the contact server furtheroperative to: store the analyzed call quality characteristics of thecommunication session in the data store as additional intelligentcommunication session data.
 27. The system of claim 22, the contactserver further operative to: transmit a handoff instruction to thecommunication device having the cellular communication link.
 28. Thesystem of claim 22, the contact server further operative to: receive theintelligent communication session data from the communication devicehaving the initial cellular communication link.